Mahi Mahi – NYC to Crouton on the Hudson (Half Moon Bay Marina)

As I write this section of the post, it’s only 7:15am. We wanted an early start up the Hudson River, to hopefully avoid the chaos of ships that will build as the day goes on.

The plan worked reasonably well, the boat traffic was not too bad, but still higher than I expected for 7am on a Tuesday

On the way up the Hudson, we passed several attention getting objects.

Item #1 = a very large screened in area with several boats & some large ships. It was hard to believe, but this was a Golf Club right on the Hudson River. The Chelsea Piers Golf Club. The members use the net to drive golf balls, like at the driving range.

Item #2 = We saw a building with the name Erie Lackawanna. But what could it be, is it a restaurant, a club, boat slips for rich people ? Ms. Google says that Erie Lackawanna was a closed down Railroad Station. They would take product from boats and deliver it by rail car to the local NY/NJ area.

Item #3 = A very large White Head Sculpture. It was uglier than SH – -, and had no place on the river. But I had to take the photo and look it up.

Item #4 = The next objects looked like a large number of HUGH Golf Tees, holding trees & vegetation. Ms Google says this.

Item #5 = An Aircraft Carrier with an Atrium. Ms Google tells me that this is the USS Intrepid, that has been converted into a museum.

Item #6 = The Leaning Tower of America ? Ms Google tells me that this is just an architectural firm having fun with shapes. There are actually 2 buildings, but the 2nd one is hidden in my photo.

One of the other things we noticed is how the landscape changed dramatically after we crossed under the George Washington Bridge. Prior to cruising under, the scenery was all buildings and impressive structures. After cruising under the GW bridge, we started seeing more trees, until finally – trees and rocky cliffs were the dominant sites. Here are some photos showing the change.

Deena helped me with some research of the jagged cliffs on the NJ shore, they are called the Palisades Cliffs.

All along the Hudson River past NYC, we saw trains coming by every half hour. It’s really small on the video, but it was cool in real life with the horn blasting every 5 minutes.

Towards the end of our ride, we passed under the Tappan Zee Bridge, but it appears that the Bridge was recently renamed after Mario Como, the former Governor of NY who was ousted from office after the 2020 Covid scandals (sorry for the political commentary, this is a fun post, but please don’t name bridges after politicians).

We arrived in a city called Crouton on the Hudson, about 35 miles north of NYC (Adam & Patty, do you remember). The marina is called Half Moon Bay. It is a beautiful setting tucked off to the side of the Hudson River. With a quaint little town.

We strolled about 15 minutes into downtown Crouton on the Hudson. I found myself once again following the Luv-Birds, wishing that Nellie was here with us.

We were going to go to a mom/pop Diner restaurant, but stumbled onto a wonderful Greek restaurant on the way. The Piato Greek Kitchen, a family running the place was incredibly friendly – owner Gregory, son Gregory II, and waitress Sade (yes, like the singer). The food was awesome. The owner Gregory sat with us for a while and provided 4 free Ouzo shots.

After the walk home, it was an early night. Jerry and Deena tucked in about 9:30, Mike finished this darn big and hit the sack about 10:30.

An early day tomorrow – train ride into NYC and then visit the 911 Memorial & Museum.

Nitie Nite,

Mike, Deena, and Jerry